Away Michael Gow Analysis

Away Essay:
Away by Michael Gow is a dramatic monologue about a young girl called Meg. Meg is constantly questioning her mother’s movements and choices, during what is meant to be a time of happiness and celebration. The monologue follows Meg and her family on their annual family trip to the coast, where part of their tradition is to hide each other’s Christmas presents amongst the baggage throughout the car, so no one is able to sneak a peek. On their journey Meg realises that her Mother has left a gift meant for her father back at home, and she becomes irritated yet desperate to find the answers as to why her mother would do such a thing. Throughout the monologue Meg’s thoughts drift upon different emotions towards her mother, as she cannot seem to grasp why her mother does not enjoy
The monologue isn’t very modern as it is set approximately in the late 1970s which matches the choice of wording they use to describe certain aspects. The time of year is summer as Meg talks about going on Christmas holidays which is summer in Australia. There is no clear response to the time of day as they don’t give any recommendations, though they have already left for holidays, and in general people leave for holidays in the morning though by reflecting it, it shows they have already reached their holiday destination. According to the monologue the time of day is roughly around lunch time as they are unpacking the car and they have already gotten there when Meg found out the present for her dad was left at home. You can see in the first few lines of the monologue that they are talking about their home and describing where Meg thought the present was left. Since the wording is in past tense, they are no longer at home as they have already left to go on holidays to the